John p



(No Model.)

J. P. SHIPLEY.

WIRE STRETCEER.

,531. Patented Apr. 3, 1888;

UNITED STATES PATENT EETcE,

JOHN F. SHIPLEY, OF COUlYClL BLUFFS, IOYVA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WVILLIAM T. COLE,

WIRE STRETCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 380.531, dated April 3, 1888.

Application filed November 10, 1887. Serial No. 254,796.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN F. SHIPLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Council Bluffs, in the county of Pottawattamie and 5 State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire-Stretchers; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form apart of this specification.

This invention relates to wire-stretchers, and has for its object to devise a means for tightening wires in the construction of wire fences, which can be readily applied to slack wire Without the necessity of cutting the said wire, and which can be used for splicing the ends of a broken wire or for securing the ends of two wires together.

The improvements consist in the general construction of the device and peculiar construction and combination of parts, which will be more fully hereinafter set forth and claimed, and shown in the annexed drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a plan view of a wire-stretcher of my invention, showing the operation of the operating-lever by dotted lines; Fig. 2, a crosssection on the line X X of Fig. 1, looking to the right; Fig. 3, a section on the line Y Y of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4, a perspective detail view of the end of the rack-bar, showing the clamp applied thereto on an enlarged scale.

The rack-bar A, having teeth a on its opposite edges, is provided with the operating-lever B, which is adapted to move on it. The operating-lever has a mortise, I), through which the rack-bar passes, and the pawls O, pivoted in each end of the mortise, engage with the teeth a of the rack-bar and serve to hold the lever against retrograde movement when advanced on the rack-bar. The pawls have each a spring, d, which bears against the closed end of the opening b and holds the pawls yieldingly in contact with the teeth of the (No model.)

rack-bar. The rack-bar is made with the longitudinal slot I), through which the rivet (2, extending through the operating-lever, passes, and guides said lever in its movements and prevents its having any transverse movement relative to the rack-bar. The roller d placed on the rivet, relieves it of friction against the edges of the rack-bar bordering on the slot D.

The plate E, pivoted between its ends to the operating-lever in line with the rivet d, and, in fact, mounted on said rivet d, is provided with the wire-clamp device composed of the stop 6 and the cam-lever e, to act in opposi- 63 tion to the stop 6 for clamping the wire.

The clamp F, pivotally secured to the end of the rack-bar, is for securing the device to a slack wire at any point in its length, while the said wire is clamped at another point by 65 the clamp on plate E, and is tightened by operating the lever Bin the usual manner. This clamp F is composed of two jaws, f and f, pivotally connected together and to the rackbar by the pivot g and the set-screw G for 7Q drawing the jaws together. One of the plates is provided with the hook H, for engaging with a rope or staple on a post to anchor the rackbar at one end.

In operation the rack-bar is fastened at 7 one end by engaging hook H with a rope or other suitable projection, or by clamping the end of a wire between the jawsfandf, and the wire to be tightened is held by the clamp on plate E. Now by operating lever B the distance between the two clamps is lessened. Consequently the slack in the wire is taken up.

Having thus described myinvcntion, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 18-- The herein-described wire-stretcher, comprising the following elements in combination: the rack-bar having a longitudinal slot, the operating-lever having an opening in one end, 0 through which the rack-bar passes, the pawls, the rivet passing through the lever and the slot in the rack-bar, and having the roller d mounted thereon and located in the said slot,

the plate mounted on the rivet and pivotally connected with the operating-lever, the clamp carried by said plate, composed of the stop and the cam-lever, and the clamp pivotally connected with the end of the rack-bar and having one end extended to form a hook, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN F. SHIPLEY.

\Vitnesses:

J. G. LANGE, GEO. H. MAYNE. 

